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Colorado Bandits
Colorado Bandits When the Colorado Bandits were announced on May 27, 2013, BFL owner Jim Tading was taking a pretty big leap of faith for a number of reasons. For one, when the league's BFL Candidacy Poll was released a year before, Colorado only gave a 63% approval rating. But, Colorado immediately became the BFL's fifth-largest market. Two, was the reason behind Colorado's unexpectedly low rating... Some fans just didn't think a football team was necessary. Between the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, and the Colorado Rockies of the MLB, not to mention they already had the established Denver Broncos in the NFL, some fans were content with their standing in sports. Three, was their erratic owner, Dan Addenda. It all started when it became known Colorado would start in Division III. Addenda claimed in order for Colorado fans to sustain interest and compete with the Broncos, they would have to start in Division I. This led to a three-day hiatus in negotiations. Finally, on June 3, it was announced that Colorado would start in Division II. Addenda allowed construction to begin. Over a year later, the stadium was complete. And once again, Addenda proved controversial. That day, Addenda also announced that he'd already signed a contract to name the stadium. The name was the Pontiac SilverDome. Fans weren't happy with not getting a say in naming the stadium. They filed a legal amendment vs Addenda for not releasing a fan poll, as was required by all owners. The state of Colorado won. However, the contract had already been signed, and the BFL Board of Directors were unable to negate the contract. A day later, Addenda agreed to release a fan poll, following the end of the 5-year Pontiac contract. In their first season, Colorado finished 5-10, falling to Division III. That was followed by a 6-9 record in 2016 and 2017. Entering the 2018 offseason, fans took notice of the potential game-changing talent available in free agency that year, and demanded that Addenda sign someone who could turn the tide in Colorado. Not to be swayed by public opinion, he instead announced that he'd reached a deal with DE Ray Zachary, a talented yet trouble prone player who'd just been released by the Broncos because of off the field issues. Details on the signing later revealed that Addenda had signed Zachary to a three year, $42M contract, making him the highest paid "rookie" in league history at the time. Fans were very upset at this. But the worst was yet to come. Following a Week 11 loss vs Dallas, ESPN confirmed DE Ray Zachary had been arrested on possible manslaughter. Legal issues would keep Zachary away from the team, and the field for the remainder of the season as more and more details came to light on his troubling past. Colorado finished 7-8 in 2018. Within a week of the season's conclusion, Zachary was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in connection to a murder he'd been linked to from his freshman year at Michigan State University. He was cut following the verdict. The next day, amidst the media firestorm, Addenda announced he had hired HC/GM Erik Meyer, and resigned as GM. Addenda still owned Colorado, but would only run the team financially from that point on. Meyer's first act as HC/GM, was to re-sign veteran QB Matt Nagle to a 4-year, $32M deal. A questionable deal, but a necessary one to maintain their locker room leader at the time. In free agency, he signed NFL veteran and former Bronco WR Jon Baldwin to a 3 yr, $17.5M deal. His biggest impact moment came when it was announced that he'd reached a deal with LB Nigel Scorpio from Boston College. Scorpio had been an undrafted player in the NFL Draft due to his size, which many claimed made it impossible to succeed in the pros. Fans as well as analysts were skeptical of the pint-sized linebacker. Even moreso when Meyer publicly made the rookie team captain entering the season. Then came the season. In 2019, Colorado went 9-6 on the strength of a renaissance year from Nagle, and a rookie campaign from Scorpio that led to Division III Rookie of The Year honors. Despite all the momentum in the world, Colorado went one and done in the playoffs, and failed to advance past Division III. In 2020, Colorado finished 10-5, and beat Seattle to advance to Division II. In 2021, Colorado felt the injury bug, and finished 6-8-1 for the second time. However, HC Erik Meyer gurantees a DII crown by the end of the 2022 season. Will his team back up his bold claim, or will they fall to another contender for the second time in three years? '*C*: Nigel Scorpio, ILB' Age: '''25 '''Yrs in The NLF: '''3 '''Awards: Division III Rookie of The Year (2019), 2x NLF All-Star (2020 & 2021) '''Bio: Nigel Scorpio's story from undrafted prospect to team All-Star is one of the more inspiring stories the NLF has seen so far. '''Standing at just 5'9, 232 pounds, it wasn't hard to understand why analysts overlooked him heading into his senior season an Boston College in 2018. After a good, not great senior campaign, the writing was on the wall. Only one scout bothered to attend his individual workout, and even he left early. He was quoted as saying he was "uninspired" by the linebacker. As expected, Scorpio went undrafted. In an attempt to keep his dream alive, he attended an open tryout for his former coach's team, the Colorado Bandits. Meyer reportedly was very surprised to see Scorpio, and was even more surprised to hear he'd gone undrafted. After three days of rigorous workouts, Meyer signed the 5'9 linebacker to a 2 year rookie deal worth about $5M. To Nigel's surprise, Meyer then publicly announced Scorpio as the team's new captain entering his rookie year. Now with all of Colorado aware of who he was, he was determined to prove to the league what kind of player the NFL had overlooked. That year, despite an early exit in the playoffs, Scorpio had played well enough to earn not only DIII Rookie of The Year honors, but the respect of the fans and his team alike. Moving forward, Scorpio continues to defy the odds each and every season. He plays loud. He plays proud. And his results without a doubt contradict his size. And Scorpio probably wouldn't have it any other way. '''Strengths: '''Above average tackler for his size. Tremendous at finishing tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Without a doubt one of the smartest men on the field. Understands a wide variety of offensive schemes. Great at playing zone coverage. More than willing to take on offensive lineman to free up a defender. The definition of a team player. Tireless work ethic. Commands the defense like very few in the league today. '''Weaknesses: '''Not a solid tackler in the open field. Not exactly the fastest linebacker in the league today. Has a difficult time gaining ground on players ahead of him. Poor technique when it comes to block shedding. Easily exploited in man coverage schemes.